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Page 18
The negative movement, then, is the first substantial step in the
progress of the spiritual life. The man's self breaks out into
discontent with nature, and this is the first step to the union of self
to the higher reality in life. The break with the world is in itself of
course but a negative process. This must attain a positive significance.
If the self breaks away from one aspect of life, it must identify itself
more intimately with another. This occurs when the individual sets out
definitely on a course of life in antagonism to the evil in the world.
When this takes place, there arises within him a _new immediacy_ of
experience. Hitherto the things that were his greatest concern, and that
appealed to him most, were the pleasures of the natural world. But these
things appeal to him no longer as urgent and immediate--but as being of
a distinctly secondary character. A new immediacy has arisen; it is the
facts of the spiritual world that now appeal to him as urgent and
immediate. "All that has hitherto been considered most immediate, as the
world of sense, or even the world of society, now takes a second place,
and has to make good its claim before this spiritual tribune.... That
which current conceptions treat as a Beyond ... is now the only world
which exists in its own right, the only true and genuine world which
neither asks nor consents to be derived from any outside source."
This new immediacy is the deepest possible immediacy, it is an immediacy
of experience where the self comes into contact with its own vital
principle--the Universal Spiritual Life--and brings about a fundamental
change in the life of the individual. The inner life is no longer
governed by sense impressions and impulses, but the outward life is
lived and viewed from the standpoint of the inward life.
But a new immediacy is not all that follows in the train of the negative
movement--on the contrary, the highest possible rewards are gained, for
freedom, personality, and immortality are all brought within the range
of possibility.
Once a human being decides for the highest he is on the highroad to
complete freedom. The freedom is not going to be won in a moment, but
must be fought for by the individual through the whole course of his
life. His body is always with him, and will at times attempt to master
him--he must fight continually to ensure conquest. Difficulties will
arise from various quarters, but he is not going to depend only upon his
own resources. All his activity involves in the first place the
recognition of the spiritual world, but more than this, he appropriates
unto himself of the spiritual world--this in itself is an act of
decision. And the more we appropriate unto ourselves of the Universal
Spiritual Life, the more we decide for the higher world, the freer we
become. Indeed, "it is this appropriation ... of the spiritual life that
first awakens within the soul an inward certitude, and makes possible
that perfect freedom ... so indispensable for every great creative
work." By continually choosing and fighting for the progress of the
Universal Spiritual Life, it comes to be our own in virtue of our deed
and decision. Hence man has attained freedom--the lower world no longer
makes successful appeal. He has become a part of the spiritual world,
and his actions are no longer dictated by anything external, but are the
direct outcome of his own self. He has freely chosen the highest, and
continually reaffirms his choice--this is perfect freedom.
Man gains for himself, too, a personality in the true sense of the term.
Eucken does not mean by personality "mere self-assertion on the part of
an individual in opposition to others." He means something far deeper
than this. "A genuine self," says Eucken, "is constituted only by the
coming to life of the infinite spiritual world in an independent
concentration in the individual." Following a life of endeavour in the
highest cause, and continual appropriation of the spiritual life, he
arrives at a state of at-one-ness with the universal life. "Man does not
merely enter into some kind of relation with the spiritual life, but
finds his own being in it." The human being is elevated to a self-life
of a universal kind, and this frees him from the ties and appeals of the
world of sense and selfishness. It is a glorious conception of human
personality, infinitely higher than the undignified conceptions of
naturalism and determinism.
And if man wins a glorious personality, he may gain immortality too.
Unfortunately, Eucken has not yet dealt fully with this question, but he
is evidently of the opinion that the spiritual personalities are
immortal. As concentration points or foci of the spiritual life, he
believes that the developed personalities are at present and in prospect
possessors of a spiritual realm. But there will be no essential or
sudden change at death. That which is immortal is involved in our
present experience. Those who have developed into spiritual
personalities, who have worked in fellowship with the great Universal
Life, and become centre-points of spirituality, have thus risen supreme
over time and pass to their inheritance. Those who have not done so, but
have lived their lives on the plane of nature, will have nothing that
can persist.
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